A VIRGINIA Preparatory School learner has received praise for his efforts to save a young boy who got into difficulty while surfing recently. Kelso Bolton, a Grade 6 learner was recognised by his school for the incident that took place over the Easter weekend.

The 11-year-old from Glenashley was surfing at the time when he noticed a young boy get into difficulty near the pier on Durban’s North Beach.

“There was a strong rip tide and I just saw him bobbing in the water and breathing heavily. I was paddling out to catch another wave when I noticed him. I asked if he was okay and he was non-responsive and I could see a little bit of panic in him. I offered him my surfboard and asked him to grab hold of it. We weren’t that far from shore but it was too deep to stand up in so he rested while holding on to my board.

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“I then waited for the next wave to push him on my board out of the danger zone. One of the beachgoers on the pier spotted what was happening and alerted the boy’s father. Once he got closer to shore his dad was able to pull him out of the water. It all happened so quickly but I was happy I had intervened because the rip was extremely strong. I was also pulled in by the tide and remembered my lifesaving training when I was at Pirates Surf Lifesaving Club and I calmly treaded water on my back so as to not expend too much energy,” he explained.

Bolton said the rescue only took a few minutes but highlighted the need to be careful when swimming or surfing in the ocean.

“I managed to get out of the rip tide and get back to my board. I remember as I was pushing the young boy back to the safety of the shore him saying ‘thank you’. I’m not sure what happened before the boy was pulled into the rip tide but I think he was surfing with his dad,” Bolton explained.